First ski trip for Daughter

A snowHead

I haven’t been skiing for 3 years, so I’m looking in getting back out into the mountains this winter. My daughter is 4.5 years old, and I’m thinking of taking her with me which will be her first attempt at skiing.

I’m thinking of a cheap flight to Geneva, then a short transfer to some decent accommodation.

Obviously I will put her into ski school, although she has never been on snow and is very shy. How does ski school work for very young children - what’s the setup?

I’ve skied PDS multiple times, and also skied Flaine, La Grand Bornand which are close to Geneva. Where would you recommend for a complete newbie, somewhere we can head for a 4/5 day trip?

Accommodation I usually do a chalet, but if it’s a shorter trip an apartment may be best.

Looking forward to suggestions.

A snowHead

I did it with my daughter who was the same age as yours. At the time I was single and went on my own with 2 kids. Manc to GVA and we stayed in Les Gets.....

The hardest part without doubt was the first day, leaving her in ski school.... not from my pov but she just didn't want to stay... or more likely didn't want me to leave. The instructor shoo'd me away, quite forcefully. When I picked her up she had had a ball.... loved every minute. She is now 15 and skiing is her favourite holiday.... offpiste in banff last year!

My advice, is be very organised in the mornings and give yourself plenty of time. Don't push it all day, plenty of rest and do something else in the afternoon to break it up and don't forget to take some time to ski with her..... she'll love showing you want she has learned

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Personally at that age I would look at Ski esprit. Your daughter will have other kids her age, English speaking groups of kids at ski school etc.

We tried our own DIY when mine were 3 and 5 and regretted it. The ski school and childcare were terrible as my kids just didn’t understand the broken English and swirl of French, and so many strangers. And the stress of getting up and ready and their tears was so overwhelming

2 years later we tried esprit. A small chalet with another family. To this day my kids remember that holiday and playing on their little Nintendo’s and skiing with friends and it was so much more relaxing.

FYI my ‘kids’ are now 22 and 24 and stopped skiing when we tried to push them and take them ourselves. At 10 and 12. Their natural shyness and ‘self preservation’ meant they got afraid. Whereas in skis school with friends they felt safer and were braver!!!

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I would suggest booking a week as then your daughter will be able to do a complete week of ski school and you will have more accommodation options.

If you don’t mind returning to the Grand Massif if suggest staying at les chalets de jouvence at the foot of the slopes in les carroz which has a nice pool.

The les carroz ski school is small and friendly and my kids loved their instructors there. After a few days your daughter would probably be taken to ski the Marvel in Morillon a lovely long green through the woods with signs talking about woodland animals at the sides if I remember correctly.

If flying to Turin is an option I’drecommend Montgenevre which worked well for us when our daughter was five. Apeak ski school are good and there are several long greens with easy blues to progress to. Le Napoleon apartments are at the foot of the slope and again there is a pool

Alternatively you could go to Club med where your daughter would have lots of company her age but they are mainly in the tarentaise so not that near Geneva and definitely not a budget holiday! Flights and transfers would be in the package though.

We have mainly self catered in high end apartments with access to pools and both kids still come skiing with us every year even though the eldest is now 21!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Children are all completely different. The people who say "kids have no fear" are wrong. Even within one family, one child can be gung-ho and pointing skis straight down the mountain at every opportunity, another very tense and anxious and not liking that "sliding" feeling. Just like adults, in fact. Some littlies are also bothered by being up in the air on a lift until they get used to it.

Good advice in the posts above, but I'll add one. This is going to be a VERY expensive holiday. How about investing in a one to one private lesson in a fridge? By the end of that you'll have a much clearer idea of what's possible for your daughter, and you can be watching and waving admiringly and paying for the promised hot chocolate. I wouldn't recommend you get on the snow with her.

4.5 is the ideal age to learn.

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My two were very different. One would go out in all weathers, but the younger one was not keen at all for the first couple of years. It was only when we suggested leaving him at home with his grandparents for the ski holiday week that he reluctantly agreed to give it another go. This time, fortunately, everything went in our favour and he loved it. We all learnt to ski in Flaine, it was ideal for the kids, as everything was close at hand. Not quite so good for pretty buildings though.

After all it is free

If I think back many many years... ours were 4 and 6 when we first went as a family - as has been said before, all kids are different. The 6yo, who was the more introverted, took to it like a duck to water - whereas the outgoing 4yo took several trips before she accepted she was happy to go. We always did full week packages, so the transfers, food, passes, equipment etc were organised in advance. More expensive (actually very very expensive - school hols of course) but so much less stressful when you have little ones in tow.

As it was it still needed military planning in the mornings to get them ready for ski school, and we were carrying their equipment most of the time. Having a hotel very close to the lifts was a must. Ditto having a hotel with good facilities like a games room and swimming pool.

If I hadn't pushed it every year in those early days, we'd have quickly given up, but now they are both confident skiers that are looking forward to taking their BFs this year and showing them the ropes...

From your initial post, I am assuming it will be just you and your Daughter. This is not something that I have done when my lot were so young and complete beginners - I did it a couple of times, but the child I took at the time was 11 and could ski Blues and Reds.

At that age there were 2 of us to cope....and when we had more children, we brought a member of Lady F's family to help. We did go to an apartment.

In your case, I think it will be hard enough, without adding shopping, cleaning and cooking into the mix - so would avoid self catering.

As suggested above, I would use a TO that specialises in this type of holiday, which will ease the burden and make it much more likely that the holiday will be successful. At that age, their needs are fairly simple, but if things go poorly, can put them off skiing until a bit older.

Your Daughter will need to have fun, kept warm, not forced into a situation that they hate and have food that they like to eat. Skiing is only part of what they will likely enjoy....so playtime in the snow and having fun with other children and using the games/toys provided by the Hotel/Chalet will all add positively to the experience.

If they enjoy the holiday, so will you; if they are miserable, you too will be stressed and miserable.

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@Ricklovesthepowder,
Chilly Powder in Prodains or Family Ski in Ardent

Both skiing in Avoriaz).

They both run their own ski school with small class sizes.

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Thanks for the suggestions and info so far. I think chill factore is a good idea to see if she seems to enjoy it or not.

You know it makes sense.

I might have some free sessions for Hemel, don't think we'll be able to use them. They were giving them out at the Snowshow. Let me see if I've still got them, 3x 1 hour sessions

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Do 2 weeks in somewhere cheap and flat, like Bansko or Kranjska Gora.

Doing the odd lesson here and there is a waste of everyone's money and time.

Learn it proper.

A snowHead

Go for fun not for ski and you will have a great time.
Our eldest was born in the mountains, plenty of ski/ snow exposure - hated it until last season (age 6). What I like about Switzerland is you can pay for one day of group lessons to see if they like it before paying out for the whole week. So much less pressure.

I’m not saying don't go, i’m saying manage your expectations snowHead

A snowHead

some things that worked for us. Accommodation - I would make this a key factor in deciding on a resort location. Get as close to the piste as possible. My fella started at 4 and was wrecked by lunch, very quick walk back from ski school to accommodation for lunch saved a lot of hangry/tired meltdowns.
Attitude - I had to accept that it was a holiday with skiing and not a ski holiday. That made it much easier.
Keeping simple - if possible I'd find accommodation with food. This makes everything much easier and less stressful
Stressful - if you can, try and give yourself enough time that you don't get stressed, especially in the mornings. Less stress does make ski school drop off much easier.
Ski school - drop and run and try not to go back to have a look later. Ski schools are great at looking after little people, but had mates who's kids got upset after seeing them ski by/watching from a distance.
Relax/recovery - it's a very long day for the kids, we came back for lunch and chilled out, the checked to see if they wanted to go back out again. Most days we did one run or maybe two. But all quite short.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Our biggest mistake was to assume it would be a ski holiday for us. Lots of frustration. Assume it will be a ski training/ acclimatisation holiday for them and that you might get a few runs in, and you may finish the week a lot happier.

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First ski trip for Daughter

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